2006 Men's Soccer

Bluffton vs. Hanover

Hanover keeps Beavers winless with 4-1 victory over Bluffton

October 1, 2006

HANOVER, Ind. - Under foreboding skies and sponge-like field conditions, the Bluffton
University men's soccer team continued conference play on the road at Hanover College. The
Beavers struck first, but Hanover scored four unanswered goals to keep Bluffton winless
(0-8, 0-2 HCAC).

Coming out of the gate strong, Bluffton produced several great chances with two headers
from Justin "Bobby" Rohrer (Millersburg/West Holmes) before sophomore Nate Flath (Wadsworth/Wadsworth) opened the scoring in the 20th minute. Flath went on a tightrope
run down the left sideline leaving several defenders in his wake before cutting into
the box where he beat the Panther netminder with a shot that glanced off the back
post. Keeping the Beavers in control of the contest, senior goalkeeper Ryan Thomas (Jamestown/Greenview) came up with numerous gut wrenching saves to preserve the lead
for nearly 20 minutes until the Panthers capitalized on a mistake in the back to tie
the contest at one in the 39th minute. Just three minutes later, Hanover struck again
with what proved to be the winning goal in the 42nd minute.

Still stinging from allowing a lead to slip away, Bluffton generated some mild threats
in the second half before the game degenerated into a slugfest of ugly fouls and rain
aided slide tackles. Hanover tacked on two more goals to seal the win in quick fashion,
both found the net in the 69th minute, as the Beaver defense struggled with the field
conditions.